Six-months-pregnant cellphone store employee Tasnim Khan was enjoying her day until seven men walked in, one pulling out a gun and cocking it.
Her day was about to get worse.
"He ordered my colleague and me to move to the back to our storage room. He asked for the safe. I told him we did not have one.
"He pushed me against the wall and ordered us to sit under the table," she said.
While she and her colleagues were fortunately unhurt in the recent incident, the gang made off with almost R100 000 worth of devices and cash.
But it's what could have happened to his staff that has infuriated their boss, Mahmood Younis, owner of the Vodacom franchise at Montclair Mall.
He claims that when he questioned the mall's management on the whereabouts of security guards during the incident, he was told the guards were responsible for protecting patrons only, and not tenants.
"When I told the centre manager that not a single guard was around, she said 'the guards are for shoppers, not tenants'," Younis said.
"I could not believe what I was being told, as I know that mall securities are generally for everyone, including the tenants.
"Does this mean if a store is being robbed that they would not assist? What if a shopper had walked into my store at the time of the robbery, would the security not have assisted?
"My staff member who is pregnant could have been badly injured and no one would have helped her. It does not make sense."
Khan, 26, said two men had walked into the store first, around 4pm.
"When I asked if they needed help, they said they were just looking and would come back at the end of month, before leaving."
Five minutes later the two men returned followed by their five accomplices.
"Just as they entered the store I woke up from my seat - that is when one of the men pulled out a gun and cocked it."
Khan added that the gunman then ripped out the CCTV cords and began emptying the cellphones off the shelves into a bin bag, before locking the staff in the back and fleeing the store.
"Luckily an employee at another store had witnessed what had happened and screamed out to us that they were gone.
"When we got out of the room, my colleague attempted to chase after them but they were long gone. Another store employee said they tried to locate the security but could not find them," said Khan.
The incident has irked other tenants at the mall.
Robert Alcock, the manager at a print shop, said tenants were charged for security services.
"In our invoices it details what we pay towards each month; we pay over R1000 a month for 'operating costs' and to our knowledge that includes security. So why are we paying for a service we are not receiving?"
Younis said he would now consider hiring a private security guard.
"Although we are connected to a private security company, it takes them at least five to 10 minutes after we press the panic button to arrive.
We will now have to get our own guards to stand at the door."
Montclair mall spokeswoman Sophia Naidoo, portfolio manager at Excellerate Real Estate Services, said their security personnel were "trained and briefed to secure the area and protect all people within the area to the best of their ability".
Naidoo, however, did not challenge Younis's claims.
Police confirmed that a case of business robbery was being investigated.
Pavilion shopping centre manager Nisha Kemraj said their guards were used to protect both patrons and staff.
Source IOL